RESONAUT – Lost In Space

Resonaut is a trio from Trondheim who plays high, heavy and atmospheric music inspired by Electric Wizard, Sleep, Pentagram, Black Sabbath and Acid King. Resonaut is very much a band best experienced live, and their main focus is to deliver awesome, crushing concerts with massive sound and atmospheric songs. Our reporter Espen Haukelid got in touch with Robert and here you have the result from the contact between them.

So, tell us the often boring topic on the start of a band, in this case Resonaut?

The first plans were laid back in 2006, but the final constellation didn’t materialise until early 2009. I and Martin played in a band (Grenjar) together in the early 2000s, and after that band disbanded everyone drifted off to their own projects. After a few years I proposed to Martin to start playing again, but this time in a different genre, something they both were very keen on. We had some trouble getting a stable line-up and tried out a few people, but it didn’t work out until we met Andreas. It was a slow and tedious process, but it paid off in the end. We’re all very in-tune and share the same tastes and visions for the music we make, which makes for a great, inspiring environment.

We wrote the first four tunes and recorded the first demo towards the end of that year, and went public, so to speak, in January of 2010 with the release of the first demo and our first live performance playing with Diskord and Obliteration. We’re based in Trondheim, Norway.

You guys have two demos out, how did the writing and recording go? As far as I know, both were live recordings?

The first (self-titled) demo was recorded live in our old rehearsal room, and all the tracks were basically just fruits of jam sessions. We didn’t have any vocal lines ready when we recorded it and that’s why the song structures are a bit odd. We just used the cosmic nod when changing riffs. That’s how we work as a band, we bring ideas for riffs or segments and rework those into songs. The new songs actually have single riffs all three helped write and we’re proud to be able to work together as such a tight unit.

The second demo was recorded at the Til Dovre Faller festival, so it’s a proper live recording.
As for "Molten Planet", our contribution to the split 7" with Krakow, that track was recorded in Brygga Studio with help from our good friend sound engineer Håkon Dalen.

Have you got any response/feedback on your demos?

Sure, we have. Mostly positive, but they don’t really do justice to how we sound live. Recording in a proper studio is quite expensive, and we haven’t gotten around to recording anything else than "Molten Planet" yet. The split is out now, by the way!

It’s certainly on the stage we really feel at home, and the feedback we get after gigs is what drives us further on. I guess we’re a live band in a sense, but we’re striving to capture that essence on record as well.

How does the band work as far as composing and contributing go?

We all contribute, as previously mentioned. Both musically and lyrically, it’s a team effort. A lot of concepts for lyrics and/or longer EPs/albums are found on the Internet and further explored via books or video and eventually worked into lyrics. We have quite a few concepts for songs ready, and we actually have the concept for our second album ready, even before we’ve made our first album! So we basically can’t wait to get started.

The lyrics and titles all seem quite “spacy” is this a recurring theme for you?

Yes. We’re into space.

The instrumental track on your first demo is some of the best, not only stoner/doom, but music I have heard. The whole atmosphere is so relaxing. Any thoughts behind this beast of a track?

"Kosmodrom" evolved out of a jam session in our rehearsal space. The main riff just happened there and then, and we fleshed it out through a few jams. I don’t think we’ve ever played it the same way. We’ve toyed with the idea of playing the song live to a video backdrop, but that won’t happen any time soon. Originally the song had a narrative although it doesn’t feature any lyrics, but we might keep those to ourselves for the time being, and take the old tried and true method of letting the listener make his own interpretation.

You did a mini tour with the Japanese band Church of Misery a few months back, how did this happen and what was it like?

We noticed they had a few open dates on their European tour, but since this was at the same time as the Inferno Festival, no one had booked them. We contacted a few promotors/venues and offered to open for CoM at no cost. I guess this tempted the booking agents to go for it.
We had a great time, CoM is a fantastic band and great people. We became friends over the few days we spent on the road together.

What influences your music? Any band in particular?

As for the concepts; documentaries on Earth, space, nature, science or religion. BBC’s "Planet Earth", "Blue Planet" and "Life" in particular.
Musically; 70’s heavy rock, jam bands, psychedelic rock, doom. Naming each band would turn this into a long list, so I won’t do that.

What are your plans for the future?

As previously mentioned, a split 7" with Krakow (Bergen, Norway) just came out. We also recently recorded a pre-production of "Sky Burial" and "Tower of Silence" for our burial rites themed two-track EP. We’ve just got to find some funding to take those tunes into the studio, so we’re planning on working quite a lot with promotion.

Other than that, we have plans for an album. We don’t like to rush things, but we’re hoping to get something ready by late 2011/early 2012. In addition, we’re of course going to continue playing live, the next planned gig is at the Inferno Festival in Oslo (April 20).

There are a lot of gear-freaks within your genre of music, is there any specific brand or equipment that you have sworn to?

Sound City or no sound at all! Even Andreas has an SC-120. Martin uses Orange amplification for those crushing lead lines. We both play Gibson Les Pauls, iconic and great sounding guitars.

Our gear ultimately is a big part of our sound, so it’s very important for us to have great sounding equipment. This also makes our live-performances more intense, loud and memorable, but the constant lugging of heavy cabinets and amplifiers are a downside, hehe.

Any words for the readers and fans out there?

Turn on, tune in, drop out.

 

http://www.myspace.com/resonaut